Form holder



Patented vMay` 19, 1925.

UNITED STATE-*s ALFRED De MEUnIssE, or BROOKLYN, NEW Youn.

FORM HOLDER.

Application filed December-9 1924. kSerial N'o. 754,788.

,Toy all zo/710712. t may concern:

`Be it known that I, ALFREDy DE Mnunissn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Form Holder, of which the following is a specification. c v

yThis invention is a form holder adapted tov support a form and is particularly inn tended for use in connection with addressing and printing machines of the cha acter de-` scribed Vand claimed in my copending application, Serial Noubdl, filed September 2 9, 1,923 and of which application the present application forms, in part, a division'. f f

It iscommon in employ form plates made of Zinc, phosphor bronze or some other thin sheet metal, these formplates being embossed with the letters charactersor symbols to be printed and it is the object of this kinvention to provideV a holder for such `form plates adapting them tobe readily catalogued or stored within drawers or boxes commonly employed in conjunction ywith card indices, said holders being further adapted to support the form plates not only when not in use,` but also while employed to make the impressionsin the stamping or printing machine.

Aside from this general object, the invention further seeks to produce Van unusually simple and compact arrangement of form plate and holder with which may be also associated means for 1naintain'ii'ig an index card on the holder, said card being adapted to receivenotations` or other data adapted to be applied from time to time' as. occasion may require. construction a holder is vprovided which serves toy support the formplate at all times and to also supporta data card, the whole being so constituted that when not in use it can 'be maintained in al drawer or box after the manner of a card in a card index.

AAn important feature of the presen-t invention resides in the marked simplicity of' the structure, its economyof manufacture, its compactncss forvstorage and its com venience and utility. f

yFeatures of the invention, other Athan those adverted to, will be apparent from the hereinafter ldetailed description and claims, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,

addressing machines toV As result of this The accompany drawings illustrate different practical embodiments of the invention, but the constructions therein are to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as vdelining the limits of the invention.

Figure l is a perspective view illustrating the preferred forinof the present invention.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure l.

which, because of its strength and dura-` bility readily lends itself to use for thisl f purpose,.although I wish it understood that any other suitable material may be employed in lieu of the fiber. The part l is made of a convenient size to adapt it to fit into drawers or boxes, such as are commonly usedr for card indices and midway of its longitudinal upper and lower edges, the body is cut away to provide semicircular lfinger openings 2, the purpose of which will be hereinafter more fully explained.y Mounted onvthe face of the body i is a retainer 3 which is preferably also made of fiber and in the preferred form of the invention sho-wn iuFiguri-f l, this retainer is preferably H shaped.

The retainer isv made of a sizeto lie upon the body plate 1, as shown in Figure 1, and both retainer and body are provi-ded with alined. perforations l through which eyelets 'eyelets are positioned relatively close to the edges 7 of the retainer. The purposey of this arrangement will be apparent from Figures` l, 2 andf. since, when a. form plate ll D 8 .is brought into the position shown in Figure 1, the ends of the plate will extend beneath the margins at the edges 6 of the retainerl while the upper longitudinal edge of the to m will abut the lower edge of the retainer' as is best seen in Figures 2 and $3. inasmuch as the retainer is ot' a resilient material, the margins adjacent the edges 6 will give sutliciently to permit the form to be slid into the position of Figure 1 and will hold the form in place under elastic pressure exerted at the opposite ends of the form leaving both longitudinal edges of the form free from attachement, so that a better impression may be obtained than would be the case it the longitudinal edges ot the Ytorm were tightly gripped.

In the latter case, the form would be held more or less rigid and would not be capable of that slight yielding motion which is conducive to the best impressions.

It will be apparent -trom Figure 1 that the lower hall2 of' the holder serves to retain a form in position while the upper half of the holder is utilized to hold a card 9 ot the saine size as the form and in the same manner. ln practice, the form is iirst introduced and thereupon inserted into a printing machine t'or the purpose of printing the card 9, which is thereafter placed in the holder so that the card 9 will show the character of the impression to be obtained 'from the form S held in the same holder. This arrangement greatly facilita-tes setting up of a series of holders since it is not necessary to write or typewrite on each holder the subject matter of the associated form.

lt will turthermore be noted that the cut away parts 2 facilitate the removal of both the form S and card 9 in the event that a different torni and different card are to be substituted.

ln practice, the parts are preferably so pro porzioned that the lower edge ot the itorni and the upper edge ot the card 9 will come flush with the longitudinal edges ot the body l, while the upper edge oi the form and the lower edge oit the card 9 are in face abutting relation with the corresponding horizontal edges of the retainer.

ln Figure 5 of the drawing, I have shown a slightly modified form ot the invention. ln this showing, the retainer instead of being made double, as shown in Figure 4, is made single, i. e., is made to embody only a lower part and its retainer, which is designated 3, is secured to a body plate 1a in the saine manner as before to provide only for the support ot a 'form S. Instead ot constituting the retainer to support a card in addition to the form a somewhat larger card 9 similar to those used in card indices is detaehably held on the body 1u by means of projections or eyelets 10 which cooperate with slots at the opposite ends ol the card after the manner shown and described in my .Patent No. 1,467,140, dated September 4, i923.

To accommodate this larger card 9, the

body 1a is made somewhat largerl than is the i'act that the torni is supported only at i" its opposite ends leaving its longitudinal edges tree to permit of good impressions. Moreover', it is found in practice that the arrangement of this invention is much more compact than any ot the prior known devices intended for the same general purpose. It may be noted in this regard that the holder with the form in place thereon will not take up appreciable space in an index drawer or box, whereas many ofthe prior devices for holding forms of stamping and addressing machines are so thick that only a relatively small number of them can be housed in a drawer or box which would contain many more holders of the present invention.

The present arrangement, moreover, is simple in construction and economical to manufacture and lends itselr" to use with many of the standard addressing forms now on the market.

The holder shown in Figure 1 is reversible. That is to say, the form 8 and card 9 are interchangeable so that no care need be taken in introducing these elements into the holder.

ln Figure 6 of the drawings I have illustrated a slightly modiiied 'form of construction which l Vfind to give very good results particularly in holders of: the smaller sizes whore fastening by means of rivets or eyelets would unduly weaken the construction. ln this ligure, the retainer 3 is shown as ot' the same width as the base member 1, so that the lateral edges ot the retainer and said member come flush with one another. These edges are united at each side of the holder by means of a metallic binding 11, which may be tightly forced into gripping relation with both parts by a suitable brace in order that the parts may be firmly united. The cross portion of the ll-shaped retainer can be secured by an eyelet if desired, but in this form of the invention I prefer to paste or glue it down to the body 1, thereby dispensing with the use ot eyelets and at the same time giving a very strong and du able construction.

I have described the invention in its preterred practical forms, but I wish it understood that the `invention is fully commensuey rate with the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the inven-v and including gripping flanges' adapted to leaving the longitudinal edges ot the grip the opposite ends ott' the "form, while leaving the longitudinal edges oi' the form free of attachment.

2. A holder of the character described comprising a body, a retainer of resilient material secured to one tace of the body and including gripping `lianges adapted to grip the opposite ends of the form, while leaving the longitudinal edges oit' the form free oi attachment, andv said retainer alsoliaving additional 'lianges adapted to grip the opposite ends of a card whereby the 'form and card are detachably maintained on the holder.

3. A holder of the character described comprising a body provided with resilient gripping iianges adapted to overlie and grip and hold the opposite ends of a form while forni free from attachment. 1 i

fl. A holder of the character described comprising a body provided with resilient gripping flanges adapted'to overlie and grip and hold the opposite ends of a form while leaving the longitudinal edges of the form free -from attachment, and also provided with means for detachablv `holding the card.

5. A holder of the character described comprising a fiat rectangular piece'of sheet material constituting the body of the holder, and a retainer ot' sheet material secured to one face of' the holder, and having certain marginal portions of said retainer nnattached with respect to the body to permit a form plate to be brought into gripped relation vwith said marginal edges.

(i. A holder of the character described comprising a lat rectangular piece of sheet material constituting the body ofk the holder,

and a retainer of sheet material secured to one 'face ot' the holder, and having certain marginal portions of Said `retainer unattached with respect to the body to permit a form plate to be brought into gripped relation with certain of the marginal portions oi the retainer, and a card to be brought into gripped relation with certain other marginal edges.

7. A holder of the character described comprising a flat rectangular piece of sheet material constituting the body ot' the holder and on one face of which is superimposed a retaining member of sheet material having ay cut away portion, the longitudinal marginal edge of which is maintained in engagement with the body and the lateral marginal edges of which cut away portion are directly unattached to the body, whereby a form plate may be slipped between the lateral marginal edges of the retainer and the ybody for the purpose of holding said plate in gripped relation, the longitudinal marginal edge ofthe cut away portion serving as a stop for one longitudinal edge of the form plate.

8. A holder of comprising a iat rectangular piece of sheet material constituting the body of the liol-der and on one face of which is superimposed a retaining member of sheet material having two cut away portions, the longitudinal marginal edges of which are maintained in engagement with the body and the lateral marginal edges of which cut away portions are directly unattached to the body, whereby a. form plate may be slipped between the lateral marginal edges of one cut away the character described SOy portion and the body, and a card may be slipped beneath the lateral marginal edges of the other cut away portion and the body `to maintain kthe form'and card in positionl v0n the holder, the longitudinal edges ot the cut away portions serving as stops for the form kand card.

In testimony whereoit .l have signed the foregoing specification.

ALFRED Dn MEURISS'E. 

